Adjustable gate



y 3, 1951 w. A. DIEFENBRONN 2,559,066

ADJUSTABLE GATE Filed 001:. 12, 1949 20 2 2; r I 4 #2; 7' a f W 4 L 7* if 3 FIG. 1

4 q 7/ 4 f f 4 W T11 I /1 /Z 9/ M f 2/ "WA/f ,3 FIG. 2. Z!

27 25; jg A1 INVENTOR WILLIAM- A DIEFENBRONN 1 26 2/ BY 7 FIG. 3.

v J ATTORNEY Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE GATE William A. Diefenbronn, St. Louis, Mo.

Application 'October'j12, 1949, SerialNo. 120,971

2 Claims. (01. 20-71) This invention relates to adjustable gates, and particularly 'to agate of this type which maybe installed at the top or foot ofa stairway, or in a doorway, the principal object of the invention being to preclude accidents to small children. For instance, if installed at the top'ofastairway it will protect a small child from injury by falling down the stairs, or if disposed in the doorway of a room a child may safely be left alone in the room without an older person in attendance to .see that he does not leave it,'and perhaps run into danger. .Also, my gate may be positioned in a gateway to keep pet animals "from escaping "from an enclosure.

One advantage of my'device is that "it may be i adjusted and locked through operation of a single element, that is to say, by merely turning and exerting downward pressure upon said element,

this operation serving both to *expandthe gate to any desired width within its limits of expansion and simultaneously to move its locking "mechanism so as to insure its being held at this width. Other features of the invention ;are its light weight, which permits it to -be easily 'movedffr'om one room to another, the simplicity of its design, which makes for low cost of production, and the fact that ordinary usage will not impair any of its parts.

"In-the-drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation illustrating my adjustable gate as it appears with the 'adfiustinglmechanism in contracted position.

Fig. .2 is an enlarged detail .view (partly broken away) taken on line 22., Fig. '1, showing the means for expanding and contracting the gate.

Fig. 3 is ail-enlarged detail view taken on line 3--3, Fig. 1, showing the means for locking the gate at any desired width.

The invention comprises a frame including upper and lower transverse members I and 2, respectively, which are spaced apart any desired distance and secured to vertical side members 3 and 4, respectively. A plurality of vertical, regularly spaced pickets 5 is secured to the upper and lower members I and 2, and while in Fig. 1 I have shown only three of such pickets (one being broken away), it is to be understood that there is a suiilcient number of the pickets 5 to extend across the gate between the side members 3 and 4. Approximately midway of the upper and lower members I and 2 an additional transverse member 6 extends between the vertical members 3 and 4 and is secured thereto.

The transverse members I and 6 are provided, respectively, with central apertures 1 and 8 which 2 extend vertically through the members l and and a vertical rod 9 extends through and is slidable and rotatable within the apertures l and 8. At its upper extremity 'therod 9 terminates in a handle 'I ll.

An irregularly shaped element 12 is mounted upon the rod 9, said element having a circular portion l3 provided with a central aperture through which the rod 9 extends, and the rod 9 and element I2 are rigidly secured together by pins 14 which pass through the portion is and through the rod 9 (Fig. 2). The irregular "element l2 has a pair of oppositely disposed, lateral extensions l5. Each extension I5 is cut out to .form apair of arms It, andbetween each pair of arms 1-5 there is pivotally mounted on apivot pin I l ametal strip l 3 at one .of its ends.

At its opposite end each metal strip L8 is ,pivotally attached, as at [9, to an elongated member 20 which is slidablypositioned within anaper- .ture 2|, there being such an aperture 2| in each .of the vertical members 3 and '4 of the frame. Each of the .elongated members 217 is rigidly attached at its free end to a metal plate'ZZ, and as seen most clearly in Fig. l, a vertical member 23 is secured by means of screws 24 to the plate 22. The members 23 are shorter than the members 3 and 4, so that their extremities are short of the upper and lower extremities of the members 3 and '4, and since the members 23 contact the door frame when thegate is in operative position,

.I provide cushioning means 25 of any suitable material at the outer sides of these vertical members.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 1, the lower portion of the rod 9 is provided with ratchet teeth B on one side only. To the underside of the transverse member 6 and opposite the toothed side of the bar 9 'I attach an irregularly shaped element 25 which is preferably formed of flat metal. One end of the element 26 is horizontally positioned and secured to the transverse member 6 by means of screws 21. The element 26 is bent downwardly to provide a horizontal section Z6 which is spaced away from the transverse bar 6. Spaced apart from the element 26 and nearer the rod 9 I secure a U-shaped support 28 to the underside of the transverse bar 6 by means of screws 29, and in the channel of the U-shaped support 28 I rest a section 30 of the same fiat metal as the element 26, the section 39 being slidable within the channel of the U-shaped support 29. As seen in Fig. 3, the ends of the member 26 and section 30 are spaced apart, and I provide a connecting coil spring 3| therebetween which is secured to said ends, and retained in position by means of a stop 32 on each of said spaced apart ends, At its free end the section 30 is beveled, as shown at 33, at its upper face and in engagement with the ratchet teeth 9 of the rod 9.

In operation the procedure is as follows: Suppose the adjustable gate is in its contracted position as shown in Fig. 1 and is to be expanded. This is accomplished by exerting downward pressure on the rod 9 and consequent downward movement of the irregularly shaped element I2 occurs. It will be understood from Fig. 1 that as the element I2 moves down the metal strips i8 gradually approach the horizontal through their pivotal connections 11, and by virtue of the pivotal connections 19 the elongated members 20 are pushed outwardly in the apertures 2!. As this movement continues the vertical members 23 are pushed outwardly until they contact the frame of the doorway in which the gate is to be positioned.

It will be remembered that the beveled edge 33 of the element '26 is in engagement with the ratchet teeth 9 and due to the peculiar angle of these teeth and of the beveled edge 33, as shown in Fig. 1, the rod 9 may move freely in a downward direction while the gate is being expanded, but is locked against upward movement, so that the gate also is securely locked in its expanded, adjusted position. In order to contract the gate for removal from the doorway, it is necessary to disengage the ratchet teeth and the beveled edge, and this is done by turning the handle l and consequently the rod 9, which has the effect of turning the ratchet teeth 9 away from the beveled edge 33 and presenting the smooth surface of the rod 9 to said beveled edge. The rod 9 may then be drawn upwardly and, as will be readily understood, draws up with it the element l2 and the metal strips l8, which results in drawing the elongated members 2'6 and the vertical members 23 inwardly, thus reducing the gate to its contracted condition, at which time it can be removed from the doorway.

I claim:

1. An adjustable gate comprising a frame having top, bottom, and side members and pickets secured to said top and bottom members, contact members at the sides of said gate, a transverse member extending across said gate and secured to said side members, said top and transverse members being provided with apertures, a vertical rod slidably and rotatably mounted in said apertures, said side members having apertures and elongated members mounted slidably therein, an element mounted on said vertical rod and having oppositely disposed extensions, connecting strips pivotally secured within said extensions and pivotally secured to said elongated members and adapted to transmit motion from said vertical rod to said contact members; and locking mechanism comprising ratchet teeth on a portion of the surface of the lower end of said vertical rod and a spring-controlled element secured to said transverse member for association with said ratchet teeth, said spring-controlled element having a free end beveled to conform to the inclination of said ratchet teeth so as to prevent upward movement of said vertical rod and to permit downward movement thereof, and said ratchet teeth and said beveled end being capable of disengagement upon rotation of said vertical rod to permit vertical movement of said rod in either direction.

2. An adjustable gate comprising a frame having top, bottom, and side members and pickets secured to said top and bottom members, contact members at the sides of said gate, a transverse member extending across said gate and secured to said side members, said top and transverse members being provided with apertures, a vertical rod slidably and rotatably mounted in said apertures, said side members having'apertures and elongated members mounted slidably therein, an irregular element mounted on said vertical rod and having oppositely disposed extensions each of which is cut out to form a pair of arms, a connecting strip pivotally secured between each pair of arms and pivotally secured to one of said elongated members and adapted to translate vertical movement of said vertical rod into horizontal movement of said contact members; and locking mechanism comprising ratchet teeth on a portion of the surface of the lower end of said vertical rod and a spring-controlled element secured to said transverse member for association with said ratchet teeth, said spring-controlled element having a free end beveled to conform to the inclination of said ratchet teeth so as to prevent upward movement of said vertical rod and to permit downward movement thereof, and said ratchet teeth and said beveled end being capable of disengagement upon rotation of said vertical rod to permit vertical movement of said rod in either direction.

WILLIAM A. DIEFENBRONN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS m mam. 

